


Awkward Laughter and Shy Giggles

by abucketfulloffeels



Category: HKT48
Genre: High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4747910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abucketfulloffeels/pseuds/abucketfulloffeels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story is set in an AU where the characters are in the same high school.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in an AU where the characters are in the same high school.

 Haruka glanced at her watch as she quickened her pace. She did not want to be late for her first day in senior high school. After hastily locating her name on the huge board with the class allocation lists, she made her way down the corridor, into classroom 1-H.

 As Haruka entered, her eyes scanned across the classroom for empty seats. The tables were arranged neatly in rows of two, and she immediately found an empty seat located at the back of the class, somewhere in the middle.

 Seated next to the empty seat was a girl with her mid-length hair done up in a neat ponytail, deeply engrossed in a book she was reading. As Haruka approached the seat, she saw the girl glance fleetingly at her before going back to her book. She was very pleasant-looking – her girlish features seemed to complement the mature vibe she gave off.

 “Sorry to interrupt, but is it okay if I take this seat?” Haruka asked, although the girl did not really have a choice since there weren’t any seats left.

 “Sure!” she replied promptly as she looked up from her book.

 Haruka smiled and laid her bag on the table before taking her seat. After making herself comfortable, she wondered if she should strike up a conversation with her new seatmate. After all, it was always good to make some friends as soon as possible.

 “But what if she doesn’t want to be disturbed? What if I fumble on my words and she laughs at my lisp?” Haruka thought to herself, but was mainly concerned by the former (worrying about her lisp was just part of her inferiority complex).

 Following this line of thought, she thus decided not to bother her seatmate, and both of them sat in awkward silence until the teacher stepped in.

~~~

 Chihiro sat in her seat, seemingly engrossed in a book she was reading. Seemingly. She had already read that book twice, and she found the storyline unbelievably boring, but she still brought it along anyway. Reading a book was one of her methods in reducing awkwardness that could arise in events such as the first day in a new school.

 Chihiro arrived in class relatively early - early enough for her to have the luxury of choosing a seat. She gravitated towards the seat at the back row, which was pretty natural, being a shy person who didn’t like unnecessary attention.

 Not long after, more students streamed into class, and the empty seats around her were gradually filled. The seat next to her, however, was left untouched. This did not bother her one bit. In fact, she did not mind being the only girl without a seatmate.

 Suddenly, at the corner of her eye, she saw a girl fly into class. Almost immediately, she made her way to the empty seat next to Chihiro. As she did so, Chihiro momentarily look up to take a better look of her potential seatmate. She was a girl of average build, with a short cropped haircut that exposed her prominent forehead. Chihiro found her to be quite pretty, and that thought made her feel awkward so she immediately went back to her book.

 “Sorry to interrupt, but is it okay if I take this seat?” the girl asked. It was evident to Chihiro that she spoke with a lisp. She did not mind that though - it was kind of cute.

 “Sure!” Chihiro replied. She could not reject her even if she wanted to (why would she anyway?) - that was the only empty seat left in class.

 As her new seatmate sat down, Chihiro wondered if she should start a conversation with her, so that she would not put herself across as an unfriendly person. However, her shyness got the better of her and she hesitated. “Besides, what if I say something stupid and she thinks that I am an airhead?” she thought to herself.

 And just like that, Chihiro decided not to say a word, and they remained in awkward silence until the teacher stepped in.

~~~

 The day zipped by quickly, and soon enough, it was lunch time. Haruka took her lunch box out of her bag, while Chihiro was getting read to tuck in.

 “You’re…Chihiro, right?” Haruka turned to face her seatmate after they had both just started eating. (The class had played ice-breakers earlier in the morning and they found out each other’s names then.)

 “Yeah,” Chihiro nodded. “And…you’re Haruka, right?”

 “Mm hmm, but you can call me Haruppi,” Haruka said with a little laugh. Chihiro giggled a little as well.

 There was another moment of awkward silence between them as they continued eating.

 “Hey,” Haruka turned to Chihiro again. “Just now, in your self-introduction, you said you could play the guitar right?”

 “Yup!” Chihiro smiled. It was apparent that this subject put her at ease. “I am not very good at it though.”

 “So…do you know how to play a lot of songs on it?”

 “Not many as of now, but I have recently composed a new tune!”

 “Really?”

 “Shall I show it to you? Come to class earlier tomorrow, I’ll bring my guitar to school and play it!”

 “S…sure!”

~~~

 Haruka was surprised how easily she got along with Chihiro. After school, they both found out that they went to the same bus stop on the way home.

  The next day, Haruka arrived in school earlier (she found a shorter way to get to school this time), as Chihiro requested. She found Chihiro in class, seated on the table with her guitar resting on her lap.

 “So you’re going to show me your new tune?”

 Chihiro nodded. Placing her fingers gingerly on the strings, she strummed hesitantly. She stumbled countless times, and repeated almost every line, and she almost lost herself twice. Needless to say, her “new tune” sounded less than perfect.

 Haruka shifted uncomfortably. When Chihiro finished, she looked up at Haruka expectantly, with a sheepish expression on her face, awaiting her criticisms.

 “It’s…not bad! You know…considering that you’re not very good at it and all that. Of course, there’s some room for improvement…” Haruka tried to be as tactful as possible.

 “Really?”

 Haruka laughed awkwardly, and Chihiro giggled shyly.

_Amidst the awkwardness between them, both of them knew deep down inside that this marked the start of a beautiful friendship._


	2. Chapter 2

 As the days passed by, Haruka and Chihiro got along with more classmates and made more friends, but they were still closest to each other. Everyday, both of them would be the first few people to arrive in class. Sometimes, Chihiro would bring her guitar, and she would play Haruka whatever songs she had been working on. After school, they would leave and walk out to the bus stop together.

 Growing closer to each other, they gradually got comfortable with each other’s “insecurities” and awkwardness. Whenever Haruka became excited, she would talk quickly, causing her to fumble over her words more often than usual due to her lisp. Chihiro would laugh and dismiss it, and Haruka would laugh back and repeat herself more slowly. Every time Chihiro played her guitar really awkwardly and asked for her opinion, Haruka would chuckle and tell her how bad it sounded, and they would both burst out laughing together.

 Chihiro’s  _ponkotsu_  character started to be evident to Haruka as well. More often than not, when Chihiro had to send over her part of an assignment to Haruka via email, she would forget to attach the document itself. During lab sessions in Science class, Chihiro could never light the Bunsen burner (claiming that she was not afraid of fire, it was just the lighter being faulty), and Haruka had to walk over and light it up for her.

 However, Haruka had her share of muddle-headed moments as well. More often than not, she forgot to bring her umbrella to school, and unexpected showers after school took her by surprise. Each time she forgot her umbrella, Chihiro would sigh and offer to share her umbrella with her and they would walk in the pouring rain to the bus stop, and both of them would get wet anyway.

~~~

 One day, Chihiro invited Haruka to her house, in which Haruka agreed to promptly. When they both entered Chihiro’s room, Chihiro quickly went to her drawer and pulled something out.

 “Here,” Chihiro placed that something, which was in fact  _two_  things, into Haruka’s hands.

 “What’s this?” Haruka looked into her hand. In it were two poorly crocheted figures that vaguely resembled her and Chihiro.

 “C…can’t you see? It’s me and you.” Chihiro was trying to hide her blushing face.

 Haruka burst into laughter. “Seriously, Chii-chan (she started calling her Chii-chan, now that they were closer to each other), isn’t this what little kids or couples madly in love do? Besides, where did you get all the time in the world to do it?”

 “I…I… How does it look?” Chihiro tried to steer off that awkward topic, but unknowingly brought up yet another awkward question, for the figures, needless to say, weren’t the most aesthetically pleasing.

 “It’s quality,” Haruka said, still chuckling. “Chii-chan quality.”

 “Hey, stop teasing,” Chihiro pouted, but her pout immediately broke into a smile as she could not help laughing along with Haruka.

 “Well…it’s still really cute though. I’ll definitely hang it on my school bag.”

 “Really?” Chihiro’s eyes brightened as she grasped Haruka’s arm.

 “Of course!” Haruka grinned widely.

 “Oh yeah! I’ll hang my figurine on my bag and you hang yours on your bag!”

 “Just like a couple.”

 “Hey…” Chihiro gave Haruka a playful slap.

 “I’m just kidding!” Haruka handed Chihiro her figure and immediately hung her own on her school bag.

 Haruka was happy teasing and joking around with Chihiro, and Chihiro was happy being teased and having fun with Haruka, and both of them couldn’t ask for more.


	3. Chapter 3

As the months flew by, while Chihiro and Haruka’s friendship still continued to remain strong, Haruka started to notice a change in her feelings towards Chihiro.

  Being with Chihiro - talking to her, walking home with her, joking with her - made her have a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart. That was natural - who wouldn’t feel happy to be with their best friend?

 However, Haruka started to realise that she subconsciously paid attention and remembered every little thing Chihiro mentioned to her. For example, earlier that month, Chihiro mentioned in passing that she liked pumpkins, and from that moment onwards, Haruka could not get the thought of pumpkins out of her head. Whenever she walked past a shop selling food and snacks, she would almost deliberately look out for pumpkin-flavoured items and think to herself, “Ah, Chii-chan would definitely like that.” It seemed…almost…obsessive.

 On top of that, Haruka started to develop a protective instinct towards Chihiro - she constantly looked out for her, making sure that she was not facing any danger or getting into trouble. She would look out for her when she was standing up in class, giving a presentation; she would look out for her whenever she was leading the class in a discussion as the class president; she would look out for her as she boarded the bus home. Yes, watching out for your friends was one thing, but minding about them for almost every moment you were with them is another. Haruka was the latter.

 Amidst all this, there was something about her own behaviour which bothered Haruka the most - she would unknowingly feel a slight tinge of jealousy whenever Chihiro was talking to someone. When Chihiro talked to the guys in class, or even when she talked and joked with some of her other close friends like Mai-chan, a wave of loneliness would pass through Haruka, followed by an almost instinctive possessiveness.

 “I almost seem like a stalker than a friend,” Haruka thought to herself every now and then.

~~~  
 On a particular evening, these thoughts filled Haruka’s head more than usual. At night, after eating dinner and finishing all her homework, she plonked herself in bed and reached for her bag on her desk. The “ugly and cute” keychain figure thing Chihiro made for her hung at the side of her bag, as it always did.

 Again, she thought about Chihiro. She thought about how she would wait in anticipation every morning in class for Chihiro to appear, or walk into class with her heart pounding against her chest as wondered whether Chihiro had arrived in class or not. She thought about how her breathing would quicken and how her heart raced whenever she talked to Chihiro. She thought about how a smile or giggle from Chihiro seemed to be the best thing ever, and would lift her mood for the rest of the day until she got home and laugh with her face buried in her pillow.

 “Gosh, this totally seems like the behaviour of a teenage girl whenever she is in the presence of a guy she has a crush on.”

 Then the thought hit Haruka. Perhaps she had developed a crush on Chihiro.

 What came next was a sense of enlightenment, followed by excitement, coupled with anger and despair. But…Chihiro was her best friend! And a girl at that!

 A million questions filled Haruka’s mind. “Should I tell Chii-chan? But I’m not even sure of my feelings myself! What if Chii-chan…doesn’t like girls? If I tell her, would she reject me or accept me? And if I do so, would our relationship as best friends change?”

 Suddenly, Haruka became scared. As much as she was aware that she was becoming deeply infatuated with her best friend, she definitely did not want to lose her best friend in this school, and possibly in her entire life.

 But even if she kept her feelings for Chihiro to herself, Chihiro would somehow or rather find out Haruka’s true feelings for her, for she knew her so well, Haruka reasoned. Haruka battled with these thoughts in her mind for a considerable amount of time, trying to think of the best solution for this problem.

After some time, Haruka concluded that the best way to stop herself from falling in love with her best friend was to stop reminding herself of Chihiro. Of course, this course of action would have its repercussions, but it was the best Haruka could do at that moment.

 Clutching the crocheted figure, Haruka sat up in her bed. At that moment, Haruka decided - she will avoid Chihiro.


	4. Chapter 4

 The next day, Haruka deliberately came to school slightly later, so that she will avoid being alone with Chihiro for that few minutes.

 “Good morning, Haruppi,” Chihiro greeted her as usual. “You’re…a bit late today.”

 Haruka gave a weak smile and sat down, not glancing at Chihiro.

 It was then when Chihiro noticed that the keychain that she had given her was not hanging on Haruka’s bag. “Could she have removed it? Or maybe it had accidentally dropped off?” Chihiro speculated. She did not, however, ask Haruka about it as she sensed that she might be in a bad mood.

 Throughout the day, Haruka ignored Chihiro, responding to her with one or two words when necessary. Chihiro thought of this to be a bit weird, but again, she dismissed it as a bad day for Haruka.

 Soon enough, it was lunchtime. Chihiro stood up. “Hey Haruppi, do you want to have lunch togeth-” Before she could finish, Haruka turned around and joined Natsu and the others for lunch. Chihiro shrugged her shoulders and ate by herself. After school, Haruka did not even wait for her to finish packing and left by herself.

 This continued for the next few days, and it dragged on for a week or so. Chihiro was troubled deeply by it, and felt greatly hurt. What did she do wrong which caused Haruka to give her the cold shoulder.

 At the same time, as Haruka continued to carry out her “plan” and keep Chihiro off her mind as much as she could, the more miserable she felt. Trying to keep her out of her thoughts made her think about her even more, and it pained her to see Chihiro’s face fall every time she ignored her.

~~~

 Then the day came. Chihiro and Haruka happened to be on the duty roster on the same day, and they stayed back to clean up the classroom. As they were doing so, dark clouds started gathering in the sky. There was no doubt that it was going to rain.

 The moment both girls finished, heavy raindrops started falling from the sky. Haruka searched her bag for her umbrella, but to her horror, she forgot to bring it to school.

 “Um, I can share my umbrella with you,” Chihiro said as she noticed Haruka searching for her non-existent umbrella.

 Haruka was about to accept her offer, when she thought, “By sharing an umbrella with Chii-chan, we’ll be standing so close together… No! I can’t! I cannot put myself in this kind of situation!”

 “I…I don’t need your concern!” Haruka spat, and ran out of class.

 “H…Haruppi! Wait up!” Chihiro hastily fished out her umbrella, zipped her bag up and followed her out.

~~~

 Haruka sped down the corridor and climbed down the stairs, reaching the bottom level in no time. Looking at the pouring rain in front of her, she cringed for a moment before lifting her bag over her head and running out of the shelter, out of the school gate.

 The bag was useless at protecting her from the rain, as expected. Haruka got drenched almost immediately, and the water sloshed in her shoes as she ran on, towards the bus stop.

~~~

 Chihiro too ran across the corridor and down the staircase, and opened her umbrella before running out into the rain, trying to catch Haruka. However, the the strong wind blowing against the umbrella slowed her down, and Haruka was still ahead of her.

~~~

 Haruka’s wet hair was plastered to her forehead, and water droplets dripped onto her face, blurring her vision as she sped ahead.

 “Haruppi! Stop!” Behind her, she could hear Chihiro’s desperate cries. At first, the sound of her voice pushed her to run even faster, but after a while, she was compelled to slow down and she stopped in her tracks.

 As Haruka turned around, she saw her best friend running towards her, umbrella in hand, getting soaked for the strong wind coupled with the heavy rain deemed the umbrella useless. When Chihiro saw Haruka slow down, she picked up speed and surged forward towards her.

 “Haruppi…why…” Chihiro was panting hard as she spoke, “Why were you ignoring me for the past week or so? Did I…do something wrong?”

 The sight of Chihiro standing there, her uniform soaked by the rain and the pleading expression on her face caused the emotional wall Haruka had been building to crumble. She finally relented and cried, “You didn’t do anything wrong, Chii-chan…in fact,  _I’m_  at fault!”

 “Huh?”

 “Chii-chan…over the past few months, I have actually started to like you…more than a friend. But I was afraid that if you found out, our relationship would change, and I didn’t want our friendship to end, so I figured that if I distance myself from you, perhaps I could let go of these feelings and-”

 At that moment, Haruka was cut off as Chihiro dropped her umbrella, stepped forward and embraced Haruka tightly.

 “ _Baka_ ,” Chihiro whispered next to her ear as her arms tightened around Haruka. “Did you really think I would care?”

~~~

 The rain soaked Haruka to the skin, making her feel cold. However, as Chihiro hugged her tightly, she could have never felt any warmer.


End file.
